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No statute amend on office of profit

     New Delhi: The Union Cabinet today decided not to bring any Constitutional amendment to redefine the Office of Profit but instead decided to exempt more additional posts from the list of the Office of Profit by bringing a new legislation. Briefing reporters after the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Das Munshi said: "We are not going to amend the Constitution on the issue of Office of Profit Act. The same act of 1959 shall invite a few more inclusions in the category of exemption in Section 3 of the Office of Profit Act". The Union Cabinet has also authorised the Law Ministry to discuss with the different political parties in the next two days to bring a comprehensive list of the posts that could be brought in for exemption, the legislation for which would be brought in the short session of the Parliament beginning from May 10.

    Tuesday's Cabinet decision comes in the wake of the Monday's Supreme Court order which while dismissing the petition filed by disqualified Samajwadi Party MP Jaya Bachchan held that a Member of Parliament can be disqualified for holding an office of profit if it is proved that the office in question itself was one of profit irrespective of whether the person received any pecuniary gain or not. Today's Cabinet decision would bring a great relief to the Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee who had also been alleged by the opposition parties for holding Office of Profit, which the MP has already denied. Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh could also earn respite from the ongoing controversy by the new legislation.

     Besides this the Union Cabinet today also gave its approval to undertake the development and deployment of an Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) at a cost of rupees of 1420 crores, with a foreign exchange component of rupees 1100 crores excluding launch services. IRNSS which would require five years to get deployed will provide an independent, indigenously developed constellation of satellites to provide satellite-based position, navigation and timing service for critical national applications. Cabinet also gave nod for re-organization of the Ministry of Ocean Development as Ministry of Earth Sciences and also approved the constitution of Earth Commission that would enable implementation of various policies concerning the earth sciences in a mission mode and ensure necessary inter-disciplinary integration. A Bill to amend the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 will also be introduced in the Parliament to cover cellular services, in addition to basic telegraph services within the scope of the Universal Service Obligation (USO) Fund for faster expansion of telecommunication services. The approval for which was given by the Cabinet that also today approved amending the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2005 that would facilitate the implementation of the urgent recommendations of the Tiger Task Force appointed by the Prime Minister.

     The Cabinet also announced a special package for improvement of DD and air services in north-east region including Sikkim and island territories. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) today also approved Rupees 1000 per quintal as Minimum Support Price of jute for 2006-07 season as per the recommendation of Commission for Agriculture Costs and Prices (CACP). Besides this CCEA also approved the expansion-cum-diversification project of Hindustan Newsprint Limited, expansion of Krishnashila Opencast Project and sanctioned the Amlohri Opencast Expansion Project of Northern Coalfields.